Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of conspiring to topple Congress-JDS coalition government in Karnataka. Responding to the charge by Chowdhury, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said BJP has nothing to do with the political crisis in the state, it’s an internal matter of the Congress.
On Monday, Congress created a ruckus in the Lok Sabha when it accused the government of conspiring secretly and with “a pre-determined design" to destabilise the coalition government in Karnataka, saying BJP's "hunger" for power has not been satiated even after winning the Lok Sabha elections.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised the issue and accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of trying to break the Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka and resorting to horse-trading. "The government is conspiring secretly. It is a pre-determined design. They took our party MPs to Mumbai. They are keeping plane, vehicles ready," he said. Chowdhury, who had given adjournment notice, sought to rake up the issue at the start of the House but was disallowed from doing so. "This government is making a mockery of democracy. You say you have 303 MPs but your stomach is not filled," he added.
Reacting to it, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the BJP had nothing to do with the situation in Karnataka where several Congress and JD-S MLAs have quit, putting the coalition government in a crisis. Rajnath Singh said his party did not believe in the politics of horse-trading or inducements. "Whatever is happening in Karnataka, our party has nothing to do with it. Our party is fully committed to the dignity of parliamentary democracy," he said. He further added, "Whatever is happening in Karnataka is an internal matter of the Congress. They have not been able to manage their own affairs and choose to disrupt the proceedings of the house instead."
Congress members were not satisfied with Singh's reply and raised slogans in the House. They also raised 'Save democracy' posters. Amid protests, Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House for lunch. Earlier, Chowdhury had accused the BJP as "poacher party". Twenty-one ministers of the Congress in Karnataka have resigned voluntarily from the cabinet, while an Independent MLA, who was inducted as minister last month, withdrew support from the government. The 13-month-old coalition government slumped into crisis following the resignation of their 11 MLAs from the membership of the state Assembly on June 6.
(Inputs from Agencies)
